Prolifical ENG
02-26-2007, 12:21 PM
Many jobs or activities that we do that involves movement with your feet and although your physical strength, endurance and agility are all important and can be exercised through time, mastering balance is key to be good at the activity. It seems as if we learn this skill subconsciously.
Although the next few paragraphs are sporting examples, I will attempt to string it together in a general sense at the end where others can add on, bring in other concepts, etc.
We all learned to walk at a young age to begin with.
For example I learned to skate on ice at a very young age and became extremely good at it. When I started to ski some of that balance I learned from skating crossed over so I could learn quickly the fundamentals of how to ski light years ahead of most of the other beginners.
Even for boxers balance is essential. You can punch at a bag all day, but without shifting your weight to throw the punch you want, you may not succeed. Many boxers take up ballet to better their footwork.
When some people learn how to swing a club in golf, strength can only get you so much distance on the driving range. Once you know exactly how much weight to distribute on each foot and change it during your swing you can rip the ball with your driver as far as Tiger. Same go for the baseball swing, and a slap shot in hockey but the swing path and balance is slightly different for all 3 of those sports.
The most critical physical activity where balance is the key to becoming good that takes lots of practice is dancing. Some dance steps one might suddenly shift their weight between their 2 feet numerous times in less than a second. You can go on YouTube and watch Michael Jackson do that while he does all that smooth shit. That is why when you have some dance experience, it is easier to learn a new dance compared to a stiff legged beginner, your bottom half is already accustomed to doing the sudden shifts of movement while your upper half is twisting, etc.
Some times its not just your feet doing the sudden changes. Many dances involve other movements like hip balance...same as riding a unicycle as well as shoulder....even rodeo involves balance that aren't foot....lol. However footwork does seem the most difficult and can be applied to more activities.
So I guess a few questions can be, why is footwork the most difficult? Is it because feet is the farthest away from the brain? Those skills with your foot balance most of us don't have to do, but sports are fun and challenging is that the main reason? Besides a physical workout, is it another way to challenge a part our brains? Some of us can genetically dance etc. better because of some natural ability to balance better, does this cause natural attraction between people? (i.e. A guy who is a good dancer can impress a female at the club)
And on.
Although the next few paragraphs are sporting examples, I will attempt to string it together in a general sense at the end where others can add on, bring in other concepts, etc.
We all learned to walk at a young age to begin with.
For example I learned to skate on ice at a very young age and became extremely good at it. When I started to ski some of that balance I learned from skating crossed over so I could learn quickly the fundamentals of how to ski light years ahead of most of the other beginners.
Even for boxers balance is essential. You can punch at a bag all day, but without shifting your weight to throw the punch you want, you may not succeed. Many boxers take up ballet to better their footwork.
When some people learn how to swing a club in golf, strength can only get you so much distance on the driving range. Once you know exactly how much weight to distribute on each foot and change it during your swing you can rip the ball with your driver as far as Tiger. Same go for the baseball swing, and a slap shot in hockey but the swing path and balance is slightly different for all 3 of those sports.
The most critical physical activity where balance is the key to becoming good that takes lots of practice is dancing. Some dance steps one might suddenly shift their weight between their 2 feet numerous times in less than a second. You can go on YouTube and watch Michael Jackson do that while he does all that smooth shit. That is why when you have some dance experience, it is easier to learn a new dance compared to a stiff legged beginner, your bottom half is already accustomed to doing the sudden shifts of movement while your upper half is twisting, etc.
Some times its not just your feet doing the sudden changes. Many dances involve other movements like hip balance...same as riding a unicycle as well as shoulder....even rodeo involves balance that aren't foot....lol. However footwork does seem the most difficult and can be applied to more activities.
So I guess a few questions can be, why is footwork the most difficult? Is it because feet is the farthest away from the brain? Those skills with your foot balance most of us don't have to do, but sports are fun and challenging is that the main reason? Besides a physical workout, is it another way to challenge a part our brains? Some of us can genetically dance etc. better because of some natural ability to balance better, does this cause natural attraction between people? (i.e. A guy who is a good dancer can impress a female at the club)
And on.